1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an absorbent for organic pharmaceuticals, comprising a hydrophobic mesoporous material, and more particularly to an absorbent for organic pharmaceuticals, which comprises a hydrophobic mesoporous material that is very efficient at removing harmful pharmaceuticals which are micropollutants from an aqueous environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past few years, a number of reports have been made of research results about using mesoporous silica for the delivery of pharmaceuticals. Since the first report of mesoporous silica having an ordered pore array in 1992, thorough research into the synthesis, analysis and applications thereof has been ongoing. Nanoparticles, which have an ordered pore array structure and a large surface area and pore volume, are widely used in the bio field including delivery of pharmaceuticals, enzymes, DNAs, etc., and nanoparticles applicable to the bio field are being used for diagnosis, imaging, treatment or the like. In particular, mesoporous silica is suitable for use as a medium for the delivery of pharmaceuticals because it is not toxic and has an appropriate pore size, a large surface area, and sufficient Si—OH bonds on the surface of pores. Compared to typical mesoporous silica shells, the use of hollow mesoporous silica cores and mesoporous shells is more proper for the delivery of pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, they exhibit superior release of pharmaceuticals and may be ingested or injected and are thus widely used to deliver pharmaceuticals. Hence, mesoporous silica nanoparticles are utilized as a multifunctional structure responsible for light emission, magnetic force, display of cells, therapeutic functions, etc.
Also, mesoporous silica may be used as an insulating film for semiconductors composed of an organic-inorganic composite wherein mesoporous silica having a pore size of 2˜50 nm, and preferably 2˜10 nm is dispersed in an organic polymer.
Because of the above-mentioned properties, mesoporous silica is recently receiving attention as an absorbent for removing micropollutants such as harmful pharmaceuticals, which is regarded as an environmental issue. Typically, pharmaceuticals are released into the environment directly or indirectly via sewage disposal plants. This is because sewage disposal plants which are currently being used cannot completely remove pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceuticals are present up to 10 μg/L−1 in an aqueous environment, and also in special cases (e.g. upon discharge of sewage from pharmaceutical manufacturers or plants), pharmaceuticals at 100 μg/L−1 are found. In the aqueous environment, the residue of pharmaceuticals may be toxic to microorganisms including human beings, fish, and aquatic organisms. Furthermore, antibiotic pharmaceuticals may form a tolerance to antibiotics or more severe phenomena. Accordingly, activated carbon is effectively used as an absorbent for removing many pharmaceuticals. However, the efficient removal of such pharmaceuticals is in need of the selective use of absorbents.
Among mesoporous silica species, SBA-15 was first synthesized in 1998, and two kinds of synthesis methods are mainly applied because they are very simple and easily reproducible. Although SBA-15 having a large pore size (˜8 nm) serves as a template for synthesizing a catalyst or absorbent, SBA-15 itself does not exhibit high activity as an absorbent for removing pollutants, in particular, organic pollutants.
Therefore, there is the continuous need to develop the mesoporous silica that hereto has been used in a variety of fields, so that it may be used in various applications that can utilize the properties thereof.